Would someone swat that damn fly?

June 25, 2012


Gooood Morning you wonderful Readers!  The sun is shining, the breeze cool, and the weeds are poking up in my gardens saying, "pick me!"  Little rascals...  "Miss Dottie, Miss Dottie, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?  With Silver Bells and Cockle Shells and one darn weed!"  Well, it's more than one weed ... I have all these little trees that pop up along with the weeds.  Who needs to go to a gym?  I do squats, touch my toes and the ground , do weight bearing (carrying those bags of soil and mulch make for strong bones!), and walk back and forth across the span of lawn and gardens weilding a hose.  Besides that, I enjoy it so it puts a smile on my face and improves my attitude.

Do you have flies this summer?  Good grief, they are buzzing all over the place.  Even with the door closed, they manage to find their way into the house.  I love to sit out on the back patio early in the morning to do my Bible reading and pray.  Buzz ... buzz ... buzz  I shoo them away and here they come again.  I do have a fly swatter but the flies seem to know when I have my hands full or it's not within reach.  Buzz ... buzz ... buzz  They sit on my Bible and twich their feelers; they zoom around my head like it's a refreshing wick; they flat out pester me to death.

As I was shooing flies this morning, the thought "would someone swat that damn fly" came through loud and clear.  Damn fly?  Oops...  Then, I thought, "someone?"  Why should someone else swat my flies for me.  It was me they were pestering not someone else.  Human nature ... we want someone else to do something to ease our misery.  We want someone else to wield a fly swatter and squash all the problems in our lives.  Sorry, folks, ain't a goin' to happen.

With that thought in mind, I ran into the kitchen and reached under the kitchen sink to find my red flyswatter with the molding of a fly on it.  Ah ha!  I went back out prepared to win the battle of the flies.  I sat there daring those flies to come my way.  Come on flies ... come to mommy!  Nothing... Here fly, here fly.  Nothing....  I looked around thinking that they were lurking behind the plants.  Nothing...  Ok, back to my Bible reading.

Zoom, here they came.  I swear to God they must have seen me lay the swatter down.  Not only did I lay the swatter down, when I did, it fell on the ground.  Oops ... I knew it fell but I didn't pick it up so it would be handy.   I let my defenses down and here they came ... more flies than I could count.  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!!  I grabbed the swatter in one hand and my Bible in the other.  I read a little, swatted a little.  Guess what?  It worked!  One fly at a time was disappearing.  I was so proud of myself when I got two in one swat.  It didn't take me long to figure out that I was responsible for my misery.  Once I got that down, the rest was much easier.  I contributed to my own misery by not being armed and ready for the pesky flies that made my life miserable.  As I began to rid myself of my mesery one fly at a time, life began to gt better.

So it is with life ... as we walk on the road to health and wellness we are beseigned by pesky this and thats.  To deal with all the misery in our lives seems overwhelming so often times we just sit and either feel sorry for ourselves or cry out for someone to save us.  We waste so much time looking at the door, we forget to open it and go through.

My sweet Sadie girl has been in misery the last couple days.  She's on heart worm meds, flea meds, liver support meds, thyroid meds, and anti-itch meds.  She is also allergic to some grasses so the only time she feels 100% has been in the Winter.  She was scratching so bad that she was crying last night and this morning.  I called the vet and talked with her for awhile.  She suggested adding an oil supplement to Sadie's food and spraying the yard for bugs.  I had gotten a special shampoo and conditioner for dry skin and gave her a nice bath today.  Not ony does she smells wonderful, she is sleeping peacefully at my feet snoring away.  I take her outside to potty and when she goes we come immediately back inside.  The vet said that she reacts to any irritation and goes into a scratching frenzy.  The aim is to keep any irritations away.  I guess I am her fly swatter!

I am responsible for doing what I need to do to maintain my sense of well being and serenity.  There are times that I don't use the common sense that God gave me and I flounder.  He must be sitting in heaven on his throne laughing as I flail around.  He must say, "That woman knows what to do and she just sits there in misery."  I pray and ask God what I should do...  He says, "Read my instructon manual (Bible) and you will know what to do.  I've given you a fly swatter, use it"

Tomorrow morning, I know that if I take my fly swatter out to the patio with me, dab on a little of that bug spray perfume, and grab the good book, I'll be okay.  Me and God will be solving my pesky challenges one at a time.  I always have a choice you know.  I can be as miserable as I want.  The good news?  I have the tools I need to make my life flow smoothly.  I don't have to be bit up and swarmed!  Come on flies ... come on flies, I'm ready!

I pray that the heat or the pesky flies of life aren't getting the best of you.  Next time you make a trip to the hardware store, pick up one of those fancy new swatters.  They come in all sizes, shapes and colors now.  Batter up ... oh it's one, two, three strikes and they're out at the old ball game (of life).  Life's a gift ... the sweeter it is the more flies it attracts.  No lie!!!!

Miss Dottie